The renowned fighter had fought hundreds of bulls over his 12-year career.

Fandino is the second Spaniard to die in the arena in the last year but the first to be killed in France in almost a century.

Compatriot Victor Barrio suffered the same fate after being gored by a bull last July during a live televised event.

Barrio was the first fighter to be killed in almost 30 years in the centuries old tradition, which sees a matador face off against a bull in an oft vicious contest that usually results in the death of the animal.

Fandino was seriously injured at least twice before. In 2014, he was knocked unconscious by a bull in France and a year later he was thrown into the air by a bull in Pamplona, Spain.

He had suffered a cut to the ear while fighting his first bull of the day earlier on Saturday before his fatal encounter.

"I think using animals for food is an ethical thing to do, but we've got to do it right. We've got to give those animals a decent life and we've got to give them a painless death. We owe the animal respect."

If you haven't read about her or seen the movie, she is seriously behind treating animals well. This bullfighting is just about inflicting pain and an agonizing death for the bull. Bullfighters are bad people. If they die, so be it.